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home cookin’ easy style

my favorite dish to make when its chilly outside is chicken and dumplings.

let me tell you, its not difficult at all and almost zen-ful to make.

what you need:

1-2 chickens- you can get a whole chicken or you can get an already cut-up chicken; it also doesnt matter if it its skinless or not (do what you like, but know that if you get a whole chicken your going to have to pull the meat off it once its been cooked and if you get it with skin your going to have to take the skin off once its cooked AND if you prefer dark meat then get all dark meat and likewise with white meat)

1-4 cans of chicken broth- i like organic broth personally, but it really doesnt matter

1 stick of butter

1-4 cans of biscuits in a can- i prefer biscuits that have butter already included, but again, it doesnt matter

1 very large pot

lots of water

everything is cooked in stages, so time varies

–> stage (a) is chicken

here we GO:

-1a-

rinse chicken(s) off with water–> add to large pot with enough water to cover the chicken

-2a-

boil chicken until cooked fully–> be sure to move the chicken around in the pot every 5 minutes or so, just so everything is cooked evenly

-3a-

once the chicken is cooked remove from water (do NOT pour out water) and place in a large bowl and run under cold water–> the chicken is VERY hot at this point so it must be cooled before you can begin prepping it

-4a-

once the chicken has cooled begin to pull the meat off the bones and shred it into strips and pieces–> place into another, separate bowl. do this until all the meat has been pulled off the bones. if a piece of meat doesnt look like something you would eat then discard it (youll know what im talking about once you start to pull it all apart). set aside the bowl of meat until stage (c)

END OF (a)

-1b-

take the water that the chicken was boiling in and scoop out any remnants of chicken left in it (floating pieces of skin, fat, etc.)

-2b-

remove 1/2 of the water which is now real, genuine chicken broth and place in a side container (it will be used later if needed, but maybe not all)

once broth is boiling take the first can of biscuits, open, and begin to pinch off small sections and rolling them into a condensed ball–> then drop them one by one into the boiling chicken broth. they will cook within seconds and float back to the top. some, however, after awhile may begin to stick to the bottom of the pot, so be sure to stir it once the top surface area gets full (this will unstick what begins to stick at the bottom–> continue this process until all the cans of biscuits you purchased are now floating “dumplings” in the boiling chicken broth

END OF (b)

-1c-

Once all the dumplings are cooked and still boiling take your bowl of chicken and begin to add it SLOWLY to the mixture in the pot–> the chicken may begin to weigh down the dumplings, so as your adding the chicken you should also stir reguarly–> this stage is best as a 2 person job (one person adding the chicken and the other person stirring the pot)

-2c-

Cut up 1 stick of butter–> add slices to mixture, stirring them in evenly

-2c-

Once everything is mixed together completely–> reduce heat and add additional chicken broth as needed, while stirring regularly–> cook for another good 25 mins to an hour. be sure to stir every 7-10 mins until ready to eat and be sure to add additional broth as needed (do what you like: if you like a thicker chicken and dumpling mixture then add less chicken broth AND if you prefer a thinner, runnier chicken and dumplings add more chicken broth). Add salt & pepper to your own liking.

END OF (c)

Now fill a glass with milk (or your own favorite dinner beverage) and serve with a fork and a spoon